Panel ponders preferences for La Crosse senior centers

La Crosse’s city council won’t get a plan of action for improving local senior centers until March, at the earliest.

A special task force that’s studying the South Side and Harry J. Olson centers plans to make a recommendation for the council at its Feb. 28 meeting.

The two buildings are both decades old and need fixing.

Repairing both the Denton St. center and the north-side center could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

One alternative before the committee is to redevelop the north-side building and put up a brand new center on the south side.

The city council faces a self-imposed deadline of 2020 to build or repair the senior centers, or sell the current buildings.

Other major options to choose from for the task force include making a few repairs to the buildings to actually shutting down both centers and moving their services to other locations in La Crosse.